Department of Health updates HIV outpatient pathway guidance
Source: Department of Health (DH) Area: News The Department of Health has published further guidance to support the implementation of the mandatory adult HIV outpatient and Payment by Results currency. This documentation replaces the previously published guidance.   Please see link below for further details. (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Cohort study: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy not effective for diabetic foot ulcers and the prevention of amputation
Source: Diabetes Care Area: News A cohort study has found that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) did not improve wound healing or prevent lower extremity amputation in patients with diabetic foot ulceration   The researchers studied 6,259 individuals representing 767,060 person-days of wound care. In propensity score-adjusted models, individuals receiving HBO were less likely to have healing of their foot ulcer (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.63-0.73) and more likely to have an amputation (2.37 [1.84-3.04]) than those patients who did not receive HBO.   The authors concluded that the usefulness of H...
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Lancet series on paediatric cancers
Source: Lancet Oncology Area: News The Lancet Series on paediatric cancers discusses the following issues:   . New policies to address the global burden of childhood cancers . New drugs for children and adolescents with cancer: the need for novel development pathways . Sustaining innovation and improvement in the treatment of childhood cancer: lessons from high-income countries . Paediatric cancer in low-income and middle-income countries (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Horizon scanning: Updated survival data for phase II trial of bavituximab for second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer
Source: BioSpace Area: News Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has reported updated survival data from its randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIb trial evaluating bavituximab plus docetaxel versus docetaxel plus placebo in 121 patients with second-line stage IIIb or IV non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). See previous NELM report for study details.   The data indicate a median overall survival of 11.7 months in the bavituximab arm compared to 7.3 months in the control arm (hazard ratio=0.73; p value=0.217).  The results also demonstrated that bavituximab was well-tolerated with no ...
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

EMA grants orphan drug status to remestemcel-L (ProchymalT) for acute graft versus host disease
Source: BioSpace Area: News The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted orphan drug designation to remestemcel-L (ProchymalT) for acute graft versus host disease (GvHD).   Prochymal is an intravenous formulation of adult human mesenchymal stem cells that is currently approved in Canada and New Zealand for the management of acute GvHD in children and is available for adults and children in eight countries including the United States, under an Expanded Access Program. (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Horizon scanning: FDA accepts New Drug Application for AnoroT (umeclidinium bromide and vilanterol) for COPD
Source: BioSpace Area: News GlaxoSmithKline plc has announced that the New Drug Application for AnoroT, a combination of two investigational bronchodilator molecules: umeclidinium bromide, and vilanterol, for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The once-daily combination medicine is administered using the ElliptaT inhaler. (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Horizon scanning: Phase III (FUSION) results for sofosbuvir in chronic hepatitis C
Source: BioSpace Area: News Gilead Sciences has announced topline results from the phase III FUSION study evaluating sofosbuvir plus ribavirin (RBV) in treatment-experienced patients with genotype 2 or 3 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who failed prior interferon-based treatment.   In the FUSION study, patients were randomised to either a 12-week (n=103) or 16-week (n=98) course of sofosbuvir 400 mg once daily plus RBV (1,000 or 1,200 mg/day). The primary efficacy endpoint was superiority compared to a predefined historic control sustained virological response (SVR) rate of 25%.   The followi...
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

RCT: Bendamustine plus rituximab vs CHOP plus rituximab as first-line treatment for indolent and mantle-cell lymphomas
Source: Lancet Area: News Rituximab plus chemotherapy, most often CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), is considered the first-line standard of care for patients with advanced indolent lymphoma, and for elderly patients with mantle-cell lymphoma, however there are no randomised comparative study data to show that this regimen is better than other chemotherapy regimens. Bendamustine plus rituximab is effective for relapsed or refractory disease and based on long-standing experience of its use in Germany, this prospective, randomised, open-label non-inferiority study compared this regimen with ...
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Meta-analysis: Hydroxyethyl starch associated with mortality and acute kidney injury in critically ill patients
Source: JAMA Area: News Hydroxyethyl starches are synthetic fluid products widely used for volume resuscitation but clinical trial data are conflicting and have suggested an increased risk of mortality and acute kidney injury. Furthermore, multiple trials from one researcher have been retracted because of scientific misconduct.   This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the association of hydroxyethyl starch on these outcomes with an additional investigation on the influence of the retracted studies.   Investigators searched various databases (to October 2012), reference lists of relevant artic...
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

NICE issues costing report and template on its clinical guideline on fertility (CG156)
Source: NICE Area: News NICE has published a costing report and template to accompany its clinical guideline on fertility (CG 156).   The report states that the cost of implementing the guideline is outside of the payment by results tariff, therefore providers and commissioners should agree a price locally. NICE anticipates that there will be an increased cost in the commissioning of fertility services.   The report contains estimates on the annual impact of implementing this guideline for a population of 100,000- see links below for further details. (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 20, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

New research explores driving forces behind HIV epidemic in men who have sex with men in the UK
Source: Health Protection Agency Area: News A study conducted by the Health Protection Agency has shown that new HIV infections rose in men who have sex with men (MSM) between 1990 and 2010 in the UK, driven by a 26% increase in the proportion having condomless sex. However, the findings also suggest the increase in new infections would have been 68% greater without the introduction of antiretrovirals (ART) in the same period, and 400% greater if MSM condom use had ceased entirely from 2000 onwards.   Please see links below for the original study, as well as the HPA announcement and NHS Choices assessment. (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 19, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Annual report on mental health service use published
Source: NHS Information Centre Area: News The NHS Information Centre has published version 4 of the annual report on people using specialist mental health services. The new version of the dataset (MHMDS v4) that underpins this annual report was introduced in April 2011/12, with changes to the way some data were collected and processed and these have contributed to a significant increase in overall numbers. The report also uses the latest population figures from the 2011 census.   The following key findings were reported (taken directly from source): . Over 1.5 million people were in contact with speciali...
Source: NeLM - News - February 19, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Review: Microbes and mucosal immune responses in asthma
Source: Lancet Area: News The Lancet has featured a review describing the role of microbes in the atopic development of asthma, and in causing exacerbations of established asthma, in the hope of providing a rationale for new specific treatments that can be assessed in clinical trials. On the basis of these new ideas, specific host biomarkers might then allow personalised treatment to become a reality for patients with asthma. (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 19, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Review: HIV-1 protease inhibitors for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in HIV-co-infected individuals
Source: Lancet Infectious Diseases Area: News The Lancet Infectious Diseases has featured a review discussing the management of patients with visceral leishmaniasis, and who are co-infected with HIV. Specifically, the review discusses the following topics:   . Protease inhibitors in HIV therapy . Protease inhibitors and visceral leishmaniasis (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 19, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news

Review: Immunosuppression in sepsis
Source: Lancet Infectious Diseases Area: News The Lancet Infectious Diseases has featured a review on immunosuppression in sepsis, suggesting that therapies that improve host immunity might increase survival.   The following topics are discussed: . Why do patients with sepsis die? . Sepsis as an immunosuppressive disorder . New approaches: immunomodulatory therapy (Source: NeLM - News)
Source: NeLM - News - February 19, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news